Doctors collected 732 samples from 22 Irish hospitals over the last ten
years and found that 61% of them, 448 samples, tested positive for
bacteria that can produce an enzyme that destroys a whole family of
common antibiotics including penicillins and cephalosporins.
“The ability to make these enzymes – called extended spectrum beta-lactamases
(ESBLs) –spreads very easily between different types of bacteria”, says
Dr Dearbhaile Morris from the National University of Ireland Galway,
Ireland. “It lets them break down many different penicillins and
cephalosporins. So the genetic ability to resist very important
antibiotics often spreads with the ability to make ESBLs, and that means
that doctors increasingly have to use antibiotics which in the past were
held back for exceptional cases”.
During the years 2003 and 2004 a severe outbreak of cystitis, an
infection of the bladder, was caused in the UK by E. coli bacteria that
could produce a particular type of extended spectrum beta-lactamase
enzyme. The Irish research team were trying to find out how common
similar strains of antibiotic resistant bacteria are in Ireland.
“Our results showed that ESBL producing bacteria, especially of the type
which caused the bladder infections in the UK outbreak, are now common
in Ireland as well as in other countries in Europe. We also showed that
they are not just found in hospitals but also in nursing homes and in
the community”, says Dr Morris.
Although cystitis is not life threatening, it is the most common form of
urinary tract infection, and the economic consequences of failing to
treat an outbreak quickly and properly are considerable. The patients
may get no benefit at all from treatment with common antibiotics, which
means that they will feel sick for longer, miss more work or household
duties, and will probably have to return to their doctor for more time
consuming tests and different antibiotics, increasing the costs for the
health care system. In severe infections patients may suffer serious
complications if the first antibiotic given to them does not work.
“It is very important to track the spread of antibiotic resistant
bacteria so that doctors have the information to make a good choice of
antibiotic in the early stages of infection before the lab has had time
to find out exactly which type of bacteria is causing the infection and
which antibiotic they can depend on to work” says Dr Dearbhaile Morris.
“ESBL producing bacteria can break down several of the most commonly
used antibiotics in clinical practice today so it is important that we
know how common they are”.
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